Some believers seem to think that a real Christian should never sin. This idea is taken from 1 John 5:18 and 1 John 3:9. This concept also does not take into account other verses that indicate that Christians can and do sin.
It helps to remember that the New Testament epistles written to believers. The apostles exhorted believers to avoid sin and life righteously. Now if Christians do not sin, then such exhortations are entirely unnecessary.
There are many reasons why Christians struggle to overcome sin. The fact that they even care about their sin is evidence of the new birth. Instead of heaping unreasonable demands on them, we should be showing them how sin can be overcome.
True, and teachings (aka "didache") regarding overcoming sins build on the Gospel (aka "kerygma") of being credited with Christ's righteousness. The
didache may be very important and requisite for becoming spiritually mature, but it is not most important or necessary to know/believe in order to be saved. The distinction between
kerygma/saving faith and
didache/working faith was made by Jesus when He commissioned His original twelve disciples minus Judas (MT 28:19-20). This “Great Commission” speaks of both types of information. The
kerygma is indicated by verse 19, in which Jesus says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations”.
A Christian disciple is a learner or one who believes the good news about God’s offer of eternal life to all who accept Jesus as Christ, the Lord incarnate. The
didache is implicit in verse 20, in which Jesus continues by saying “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” This speaks of the information a disciple needs to know and believe after conversion in order to grow in Christ-likeness regarding how to live the law of love. It is the “all truth” that is taught by the Spirit referred to in John 16:13. Again, it is very important but not necessary for salvation. Witness the thief on the cross in Luke 23:39-43, who had no opportunity to learn the
didache after his conversion; although, like Paul (according to Acts 22:3) and most adults, some didachaic truth is learned prior to knowing the
kerygma.
The distinction between kerygma and didache can be seen also in 2 Timothy 3:15-17. The scriptures “which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” refers to the Gospel or
kerygma. The scriptural teaching that is useful for “training in righteousness, so that the man [or woman per Gal. 3:28] of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” refers to the
didache. The apostle Paul also employs the difference between
kerygma and
didache in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15. The “foundation… which is Jesus Christ” is the kerygmatic teaching regarding salvation. Paul alludes to the
didache when he says that one should be careful how he/she builds upon this foundation.
The distinction between
kerygma and
didache involves a
difference in content and purpose. The
kerygma proclaims GRFS, which calls for repentance and acceptance of Jesus as Lord, which is an all or nothing decision that occurs at one moment in time. The
didache teaches God’s will regarding how saints or those who have been saved should live in order to be a good witness for Christ, which involves learning more of God’s Word throughout one’s lifetime. A passage teaching this truth is Colossians 2:6-7: “Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord [
kerygma], continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught [
didache].”
There is no qualitative difference between faith that accepts God’s saving grace at conversion and faith that accepts God’s working grace or motivates good works while walking/living (Eph. 2:8-10, 2Cor. 5:7), but only a quantitative difference as each additional moment passes–and of course faith remains non-meritorious during the saint’s entire lifetime (Rom. 1:17). IOW, the ability to do good works as well as have saving faith are both due to God’s grace.
